taste:
by Qwirk
Summary: Little Vignettes of Love All Involving Chocolate, multiple pairings canon, forbidden, one-sided, I recommend not to read this when you're hungry.


Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson.

**:Taste:  
Little Vignettes of Love, All Involving Chocolate**

Bitter-

Annabeth's hands dig into the goop. She knows that it would be unsightly for any child of the wisdom goddess to be seen in such a state but she can't help it.  
Every day now she knows that she will have to wake up and train her butt off, was it that hard to not think about him? And every night she comes here to stick her hands into the rich, creamy slab of warm melted chocolate only to wake up the next day to burn those calories off.  
She can't stop thinking about him. About his smile, his wavy blonde hair which falls into his face, his smile which covers the fact that he has a long scar running down his face. And his laugh, his sweet mellow laugh like daisies and butter..and chocolate.  
But he's Kronos now and he is no longer like sugar or syrup, he is cold ice, he's a moldy sandwich and no matter how much Annabeth tries she can't get rid of the pure memory of him.  
Just like chocolate, she thinks, the milk and sugar are tasteless now. She sighs as she finishes the last spoonful, wondering why she was such an idiot.

Sticky-

Silena knows that she's going to get fat. She can't get over him. When her sisters aren't looking she pigs out on a few delicacies sent from her father. It doesn't matter that it tastes like cardboard. She just crawls into the woods where she'll be alone to munch off some of those brown, spherical munchies. It's been a week since Beckendorf died, she's gained one and a half pounds. It seems like some illicit affair she's having with the chocolate. No one should know about it. Most people understood, her sisters however didn't.

Silena sighs and begins to wash her face to wipe off the brown stains. Suddenly she hears a rustle in the bushes.

"Silena?"

It is her sister, she notices the brown stain on Silena's chin and mouth immediately opens. Silena doesn't know what happens next, just that she cries. She manages a rather vulgar "go away" and as her sister flees, throws her head in the water.

She stands up, dark brown hair dripping wet and sits on a rock as the tears run down. She'd never be able to get over Beckerdorf, he was like chocolate, she had to stick to him.

Nutty-

Many people wonder how Chris is able to stand Clarisse. He wasn't quite sure. She isn't a strong, forceful girlfriend but she wasn't exactly sweet and nice either. But one day, he found out exactly why he loved her and why she loved him probably even more.

He watches her pummel a Hermes kid wondering how in the world is she able to do that. She didn't look that big, she was muscular and intimidating and she knew that. The Hermes kid staggered over to him sitting on the bleachers as Clarisse looks expectantly around the room eying her next victim.

"How can you be with her?" The kid asks as Clarisse stares intensely across the room. Chris shrugs wondering why everyone asked him that.

Clarisse sees that no one wanted to go next and calls for a break. She runs over to Chris' side as if she wasn't sweating and removes her armor. She smiles at him sweat dripping from her straggly blonde hair and sits down. The Hermes kid moves away, scared.

"Hey," she says. Out of the pocket of her jeans she pulls out a chocolate bar. "Your favorite," she says and opens it. They split it in half and sit there quietly munching. Chris notices that Clarisse's face is somewhat scrunched up and she's chewing hardly.

"You don't like it don't you," he says. She nods trying to muster a smile. "That's okay," he says, "You don't have to eat it, if you don't want to. I mean, that is if you don't like nuts."

"it's okay," she replies, "besides I have no problem with nuts. I dealt with you outside my house anyways." She smiles. "You can be my next punching bag."

It takes Chris a while to comprehend this and then he realizes she made a partially lame pun, he was after all quite crazy when he had arrived in camp. And Clarisse has took care of him and nursed him, even when he was in that condition. And then he realized that was why he stuck with Clarisse. No matter how nutty he or she could have been they were always there for each other.

Chris grins as he watches Clarisse take down her next opponent.

Salty-

Percy found it very awkward as he and Annabeth were eating his birthday cake. In that day, they they had just saved the world, the Western civilization and Luke. But now he was dead and Annabeth had finally gotten over him. And it was very uncomfortable taking apart Tyson's chocolate brick and digesting it slowly.

It tasted good.

Percy was suddenly reminded of another taste, the taste of that time when Annabeth had kissed him. It was salty, just like the ocean water even though they were inside a mountain of fire.

The cake with its stiff blue icing and fudge chocolate center reminded him of the sea. But it doesn't feel as calm as it does, it feels weird and all he wants to do is taste Annabeth again.

Annabeth starts a conversation and before long he gets what he wants, a taste of her again. He remembers this taste and now it feels as if his brain is melting through his body. Percy smiles.

And then they get thrown into the Long Island Sound. Annabeth is not a good swimmer, she knows how to swim true but she isn't very good at it. And this was especially unprepared. She's panicking right now and Percy grabs hold of her. He feels oddly comfortable being this close to her and creates and air bubble where he meets her lips again. They pull apart, a few minutes later smiling to themselves and touch again, Percy gleefully enjoying the taste of his best friend: salt and chocolate.

Spicy-

He doesn't know how he got to this point. He doesn't know why he did what he did. Sometimes he'll have these little moments where he acts himself. Helpless and alone. But he does know one thing, he was not himself. And there is only one thing of himself he remembers, and that was when Thalia touched him.

He had just run away from home, he didn't know what to do, he was only nine. He decided that he should've got some food first but not in his home area.

He found himself in Massachusetts buying chili chocolate, he doesn't know why he likes it just that the flavor is nice and zingy. He walks down the street enjoying his candy until he sees a giant. He doesn't know what it is are but he has a feeling only he can see it and it wanted to eat a girl not much younger than him. He grabs the girl's hand. It feels like he's been electrocuted. The girl turns around in alarm.

"Who are you?" She asks fiercely and begins to back away.

"My name's Luke, there's a giant who wants to kill you now," he says in as a calm a voice as he can.

" I know that!" The girl replies sarcastically, "But no one believes me!" She brushes off Luke's hand and charges at the monster. Luke doesn't know what to do but the monster seems to have been electrocuted somehow….by the little girl?

"How did you do that?" He asks in wonder.

"My name is Thalia," the girl replies, "How did you see the monster? No one else can see it but me!"

"I don't know," he says, "Maybe I'm just like you. I've been attacked by monsters too, you know." He lifts up his jeans to reveal the scars on his legs.

"Well, if you can help me stop these monsters from hurting me, you can be my friend," Thalia says cautiously. Luke pauses, should he really trust this girl. Was she a monster in disguise? But he decides that she couldn't hurt him besides electrocuting him and nods, smiling.

"Do you want a piece of chocolate?" he asks holding out the bar, "You don't look like you;ve been eating."

"Is that chili?" The girl asks. He nods.

"I know everyone hates it, but I'll see if I can spare some change to get you something." Luke replies a little ashamed.

"Dude," Thalia says, her bright blue yes blinking happily, "You're not my mom, well, my mom would be crazier than you anyways. I love chili chocolate." Luke smiles and breaks off half of what he has left and hands it to Thalia. She bites it and laughs.

"God," she says, "This is good stuff."

And so they sit there in the alley eating the rest of the chocolate, talking and laughing in the late afternoon sun.

When it's nearly evening, she unknowingly holds his hand. She's never felt so safe since she ran away and now she knew where she would be safe forever.

And Luke? He just grips Thalia's hands tighter, her spicy touch that seemed to create sparks.

Now he doesn't know where he is now. All he was is just memory. All he was was just a glimmer. And all she was was his first and only love.

Sour-

Nico's jealous. And he knows it.

He hates how Percy can put his hand around Annabeth so easily. He hates how Annabeth smiles when Percy cracks a joke. He hates how the gossip in the Aphrodite cabin is always about them. And he hates himself for feeling this way.

Percy was off with his mortal friends now and Nico had just arrived in camp. Annabeth was still there, she was yelling and crying about Rachel Dare and called Percy a few names he didn't really want to hear.

It tore him apart just to hear how much she missed him.

Nico had always liked Annabeth. She was smart, pretty, serious and she could understand him. She knew what he had been through. But he knew she'd always like Percy. He hated that she'd always like Percy.

And here he was spying on her sitting by the Long Island Sound. Tears streaming down her face.

Dammit Percy, Nico thinks, why do you have to leave her like that?

He jumps out of the tree that he's been hiding in.

"Whoa!" Annabeth exclaims startled. "Nico, what are you doing?"

Nico blushes, his pale face makes it obvious but she can't see it through her tears.

"I wanted to have some peace, then you come along crying and muttering a bunch of swears," he said as unemotionally as he could. For a second he thinks he sees her smile. It's a small smile but it makes him feel a million times better and a million times worse.

"Percy's off with _her_," she says as if choking back down tears which she could control. But those tears are ones that she can't control and all he feels is her pain, anger and sadness.

"It's okay," he says and sits down next to her. He tries to think of the one thing that could comfort her. And he pulls a chocolate bar out of his pocket. "Eat this. It always makes anyone feel better."

He sees her smile again. This time it's bigger and more obvious. "Thanks Nico," she says and she gives him a quick hug.

Nico knows he should feel on top of the world but all he feels is jealously, loss and sourness.

Icy-

"Juniper, I thought that since you made it with real cocoa seeds that it would be delicious," Grover protested.

"Isn't it?" Juniper asked.

"It. Is. Way. Too. Cold," Grover speaks monotonously.

"It's supposed to be cold, you silly goat," Juniper retorts.

"Well, it's way too cold. And honestly, my stomach doesn't do well with cold. We like warm, we like sunshine--" Grover begins. Juniper interrupts him by pressing her mouth against his. It lasts for a second when she pulls back.

"That wasn't that bad," she comments and smiles.

Grover is in a somewhat catatonic state, "Juniper, your lips are so freaking cold!" She laughs and punches him lightly on the back.

It was another typical afternoon eating chocolate ice cream.

Sweet-

She smells like sweets, him like salt.

She feels like taffy, him like rock crusted shells.

She laughs like a child savoring a lollipop, him like the dolphins in the ocean.

She cries like an ice cream fallen onto the sidewalk, him like the rivers filled with pollution and waste.

She walks like warm milk being poured into cereal, him like the tide hitting endlessly against the shore.

She tastes like the sweetest, richest chocolate, him like the wild waves of the sea.

They can't be together, mortal and human. But when she dies, he'll be right there waiting for her.

And that was the sweetest thing.


End file.
